The Ataris

Talk about chutzpah: First, the Ataris covered Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" on a nostalgia-drenched breakthrough, 2003's So Long, Astoria. Then frontman Kris Roe and guitarist John Collura, the only two members to survive the pop-punk band's 2004 implosion, broke with Columbia Records and established their own Isola Recordings. Not surprisingly, today's version of the Ataris — now an alt-indie quintet that calls New York home — is experiencing some undeniable growing pains. But the band's wholehearted embrace of the DIY revolution exposes its true, unshakeable punk roots — even if this year's Welcome the Night leaves behind all traces of SoCal sunniness for moody atmospherics, sober introspection and (as the name implies) pitch-black lyrics.